#rivervale_lodge

"What? That sounds like some bullshit."

Sylvi smiles. "Well, we're probably more likely to 'trick' than 'trick-or-treat.' "

"It's a time to honor the dead, the veil between worlds his thinnest, and it is when all are at their most unseelie... the island was worse, for the changes were physical ... I did not like thae. We got away...I remember father howling at the wind as if to make it obey and get the ship moving, and mother... " A brow knit "I don't remember all, but I think that's because she hnoped I would nae. "

"Okay, so..." Sylvi unwraps her moonpie and takes a bite before explaining. "Samhain's the time when everybody goes unseelie. And I mean everybody. You, me, my folks, the Chieftain."

"And...stuff happens, sometimes. A lot of stuff."

"And Unseelie ain't bad, but it mix it with mists that block memory and it's almost anything goes ..and that's dangerous"

Sylvi hesitates a moment before adding, "But also fun."

"True"

"Anyway...Dagmar, you'll notice people start to get different a couple of weeks before. Like, Mom gets kind of like really stern if she thinks anybody's taking more than they should."

She listens, biting on her lower lip. "But Olgar's unseelie. And Frank said I was."

"Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that. But like Siv says...it's like Unseelie-Plus. Uber-Unseelie. And..." A pause. "Wait...Vali said you were seelie."

"Now? But earlier... I dunno..." A frown, and she scratches at the base of her horns. "I mean, I have been actin' soft. Around here, I guess, with everybody.."

"So I guess that's seelie?"

A shrug. "I don't think it's soft. But whatever. That might be how you do seelie."

"Well, you ain't been around."

"And Seelie ain't soft, You should see mom when her honor gets questioned"

Sylvi nods in agreement with Siv. "Or my Mom when she thinks the Lodge is threatened. You know she had to take over once, right? Back before I was born, and the Chieftain was questing, and she hadn't returned when she was supposed to, and so Mom had to be the person in charge of the Lodge. I bet she was fierce then."

"I just... I meant..." she frowns and shrugs.

"Sorry, Dagmar, we don't mean offense. Just ...well, don't tell them, but we look to our parents as examples" A sigh "Try living up to Brekke the Legend and Frank the Good sometime"

A snort. "Pretty sure I can do way better than Jennifer the Junkie."

"Oh, or Jenny the Jailbird!"

Sylvi nods at Siv's words, a bit quiet.

Then she listens to Dagmar without looking at her.

"Well, you got us there..." She agrees "Better one hard to live up to than one you feel..well, you know how to word it better. Sorry"

"Whatever. I ain't seen her in years."

"I wonder..." Sylvi muses. "What's Jaymes like when he's unseelie?"

"Or Tove. You've known them both for longer, Siv."

"Unseelie don't care about duty, right?"

"I have" Amusement glimmers in her eyes "It's ..interesting"

"That's not quite it," Sylvi says to Dagmar. "They care more about passion than duty, but like my Dad says, if you make your passion your Duty, it all works out."

Then she smiles at Siv. "Oooh, storytime."

"That's true, Unseelie have pride in a job well done, not because they feel bound to do it, they feel THEY did it, and that adds the worth" Then a look to Sylvi " Oh, and me being all seelie now, how will I get repaid? "

a wolfish smile to show she's mostly teasing

Without missing a beat, Sylvi says, "I'll tell you which kids to look out for at school tomorrow."

"You gotta go in being tough, so nobody messes with you."

"I'm a grade above you..." Then..."Deal"

"Anybody messes with you, let us know - right? We'll show'm."

"Deal. And whew...I was hoping you wouldn't remember that." She smiles. "And yeah, nobody messes with Siv." Firm declaration.

"Thanks gals, but I was mostly joking..aye, I can tell you what I remember... which may not be as concrete as you like"

"That's fair."

"Because the Dreaming is weird with memories, right."

"Aye. Even me, and..I'm told I'm different.but that's another subject" She says "Now myself, I tend to get ah, well, I stop giving a damn and mum says I get to be a slob. I guess when I'm unseelie a lot of the pretense seems so fake, not 'reali' so I'll be me..only the me probably annoys and is trying to hard" Wry

"Right... but Tove and Jaymes? I can handle a slob."

Sylvi tilts her head, trying to picture Siv the Slob.

Given how Siv still forgets to pick up clothes, even seelie, it may not be too hard.

And Dagmar was here for the post-party meltdown...

A grin, and she finishes her moonpie.

"Right, well, you know how Jaymes is stoic at the best of times? In the dreaming? I remember just passing by the island made him more openly ruthless... more ends justify the means and screw the rest, we look after own and only our own..."

"Well, okay so long as you're one of his own..."

A blink. "Wow." She nods. "Okay."